- Far-Sighted Thoughts from a Near-Sighted Horseman
This is from a presentation given by Bob Ruxer at the February 2008 ASHA Convention. Some of you may have seen it before, but I thought it was worth revisiting as we begin the new year.
Before we conclude today let’s give Barbara Molland a big round of applause for this wonderful panel she’s put together. Three weeks ago she called and asked me to participate and give my thoughts on where we’ve been and where we’re going as a breed – hence the title, ‘Far-sighted Thoughts from a Near-sighted Horseman.’ I told her I had no idea where we’re going. She said, “That’s perfect; they need to know that… and you have 15 minutes to tell them.”
After reviewing my original draft, she wisely suggested changing my topic to ‘Short-sighted Thoughts from a Far-sighted Horseman.’ And I after I left everything on a plane two days in Dallas, she added ‘From a Forgetful Horseman.’ Then I put together what I could remember, and Jimmy Robertson reviewed it. He suggested changing the topic to ‘Alzheimer’s – The Early Stages.’ But this morning, after a good night’s sleep, I settled on an appropriate title… it’s now called, ‘I Can See Clearly.’
Please keep in mind what I have to say is just my opinion. I’m certain some of you will disagree with me, but I have tried my best to disguise these opinions as the pure and simple truth. So here we go…
Look around here. Isn’t it strange? The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. Once again we’re talking about how to train, how to condition, become lighter, select the prospect, develop markets, increase breedings and registrations, change the rules we’re just going to change again in two years, and raise hell with Alan and the board for not promoting our breed enough. I’ve attended this convention for 40 years. We kick this around every year, but the bottom line is that we really haven’t seen any appreciable growth. In fact, some think we’re going the other way.
I’m here to say we have a very pro-active board, and beginning with Jim Aikman all the way to Fred Sarver, we’ve had strong leadership… much of it through some very trying times.
In our efforts to expand, we added transported semen years ago, and we just knew our numbers had to grow [as a result]. Tom Moore founded the UPHA so professionals could share ideas and raise the standards and talents of our trainers. Let me add that I believe we have a world of talent in our trainers today – just look at Anne [Judd], Joan [Lurie], Smith [Lilly], and Eitan [Beth Halachmy] here. Look how professional they look on a horse – smooth, polished, sitting right there in the middle of the saddle, quiet hands, none of this jerking and snatching. Why, if you didn’t know any better, you’d swear they were amateurs. That’s a compliment to you. And we continue our hope to grow and promote our breed.
Here came the riding programs, the sweepstakes, the Classics, the Grand National, the big money classes for weanlings. We’ve sold horses for more bucks today than we could imagine years ago. And now we have western and hunter horses out there showing the public the great versatility of our breed.
But the question remains… where’s that growth? We continue to come back here to Alan and the board and say, “We need more promotion.”
Here’s what I believe:
• Trainers today are better than ever.
• There are more knowledgeable breeders and owners than in the past.
• Stallions and mares are better today than years ago.
• The vets, farriers, nutrition, training conditions, headsets, and quality are all better.
• And the judging is [better]
That’s what I believe. Now, let’s imagine… Alan here finally got fed up with all this clamoring for more promotion and quit. But wanting to give back to the Association, he reaches into his personal retirement fund and gives us – let’s say – two million bucks for promotion of our breed. Now we have the funds. Do you think we can significantly grow our numbers? I say no. Let me tell you why. And this [relates to] the changes I’ve seen over the years.
Let’s first look at our product – our horse. No wait, let’s say it’s an automobile. We must manufacture it, advertise and promote to the public, and only abut 10-20% of them actually work. How long would we be in business?
How many times have we attempted to train a Saddlebred and somewhere along the way we, or our trainer, utter those famous words, ‘It just doesn’t think right.’ I remember years ago wrestling with a two-year-old with Marty Mueller watching. He finally stopped me and asked me what I thought, knowing I was in big communication trouble with my colt. I volunteered that it just happened to be a dumb, bad-thinking horse. Then he asked me what I planned on doing about it, since I was supposedly the teacher. My solution of a much larger bit made his eyes turn red, so I suggested draw reins would no doubt be in order. That just made the rest of him turn red, and he suggested I try a different answer if I wanted a paycheck. I told him probably the best thing to do was put the horse back in his stall and try another one. Wait, I’ll be right back. Man oh man, that guy could cuss!
He pounded into my head that the horse was just fine; it thought like a horse. I was the problem. I didn’t think like a horse. I was close though… jackass. And to me – just an opinion – our horse is trying to tell us something… and here’s what I’m hearing…
We have horses in the public eye today that move like never before. Each year we see some incredible individuals, and we continue to raise the bar. And each year this wonderful breed meets that challenge. How tight can we turn the screws?
Heck, the pleasure and park horses of today would be horses of history from the past. If CH Blackberry Delight had shown in the walk-trot stake of 1956, we’d have never heard of CH Valley View Supreme. That’s how far we’ve come.
But in the process of raising the bar, I have a sneaking suspicion that we’re losing our horse… the horse we all want to promote.
Horses today are entering training earlier than ever. By the spring of their two-year-old year – barely 24 months old – they’re doing incredible things… racking and trotting like aged horses, would up and carrying the mail. But what about their minds?
I remember years ago, we’d send our CH Wing Commander horses to Frank Bradshaw, and we’d visit every four months or so to check on their progress. You didn’t see much of what you’d hope to see, just a horse pulling a big-wheel training cart. I asked one day when he was going to start gaiting them, and he said he already was. They weren’t even broke to ride, and I said, ‘How so?’ The lesson was he wanted them mannered, settled, and strong enough in the hindquarters to take the rigors of future training before he ever asked for that first racking or show step. I know what you’re thinking – CH Yorktown, CH Dow Jones, CH Sky Watch, Pluto – they racked their way into history as two-year-olds. They were also exceptions… and exceptional.
Look at our horses today, trotting higher than ever. In fact so high, they have to pull themselves forward, rather than pushing from behind. We’re losing the engine, the backend we used to be famous for. But that’s okay. The public we want to promote to doesn’t see this, and it still looks pretty impressive.
Let’s move on… whatever happened to that “Rock ’em back and slow gait?” – CH Denmark’s Daydream, CH Summer Melody, CH Belle Elegant, and CH Imperator. Once again, more often than not, they’re pulling themselves along, rather than shifting their weight back to the hindquarters, because the strength just isn’t there. Don Harris still makes his living on this gait and brings the house down. But you won’t see it on a horse that isn’t strong behind. What we do see today, too often in my eyes, is a slightly slower version of the rack. (Alan, don’t we have a poster that refers to the Saddlebred as the only 5-speed horse?) That’s okay, the public doesn’t really see this either.
Let’s try the canter. Our equitation horses canter great. What can’t the others? Anyone here remember how CH My-My or CH Sky Watch – two superstars – cantered? My western and Thoroughbred friends like to quiz me why we canter our horses the way we do. I don’t have an answer, except maybe tradition. And I was as guilty as anyone.
We’re getting these horses wound up, folks. Look at our pleasure horses. If a judge calls for a flat walk for more than 20 seconds, he’s criticized, because even the best ones have trouble coming back down to a true relaxed walk. That’s okay, the public really see this either.
These are just some of the changes I’ve seen over the years. You hardly notice them over the past ten years, but over time, I can see them clearly. You know what? I still believe, and you believe, we have an exciting breed.
That’s not the point. What we see is not what the public sees. Until we see what the public sees, all the promotion in the world won’t advance our cause.
We’re now through performing our gaits to a standing-room-only audience and heading into the line-up with our wound-up horses… that is, if they’ll come into the line-up to be judged. How must that look to the public? Now we get off and pull the saddles and then try to get back on. That’s when the fun starts. Hey, I’ve been there, done that. A few years ago it was wisely suggested that we leave the saddles on, not so much to hide the Lordosis issue, but because some of our horses are so wound up – and you guessed it – it looks bad to the public as we try to step back aboard.
Well, we’re almost through. We’re back aboard trying to find our stirrups and gather our reins as our horses smartly retire to the end of the ring. Whoops! There goes our eventual winner vaulting through the air and unseating its rider. Such excitement you sometimes don’t even see at NASCAR races. Now we proceed to give the viewing public our version of bumper cars at the carnival because our wound-up horses are fed up with all this and looking for the out-gate. When it opens, some, in fact, leave automatically and can’t even return for their ribbon.
That’s what the public sees.
Accidents are on the rise, to the point we devoted a session at the last UPHA convention on what to do when one occurs; not a word on what to do to keep them from happening.
We have the product, friends; but all the promotion in the world won’t override what the public sees. What I’ve just described actually happened [last] year… on our three largest stages – Lexington, Louisville, and Kansas City. Our horses are talking to us. Are we listening?
How much easier would their lives be if we taught them manners, if we taught them how to wait on us, how to relax between gaits, how to stand and be mounted with no one holding them? Hey, they’re already stopped. Why hold them? I wonder how that would look to a prospective buyer, our viewing public.
I’m for stepping back and building a more complete, more dependable, safer, longer lasting, and even more exciting horse. It’s there if we want and are willing to make some adjustments.
Let’s get together and polish our product, and when we finally have the horse as it needs to be – as it wants to be – let’s go out and give ‘em a show, the show the public needs to see. Then, and only then, will we have something to promote. I believe in our horse. I believe in our breed. And most of all, I believe in you. Food for thought…
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Here! Here! Perhaps all of our preaching on the subject of PROMOTION will be aided by the current economic situation rather than by trainers, owners, and breeders trying to “make ” a better horse. All of those “throw aways” who don’t fall into the upper six figure range may start looking better to the average Joe Horse Owner. Maybe when “will it be competitive at Louisville? ” isn’t the tag line, and we are competing in our own backyards to help cut expenses, we will realize that those “bad thinkers” may just need a little different training program or a little more time. Thanks Bob. Well spoken.
I was so excited to see this article. Having been in and around the horse business for 30 plus years, it is about time we get back to basics, starting with good manners and patience. It should be the norm rather than the exception for a pleasure horse to flat walk, it should be the norm rather than the exception when classes are stripped for the rider to be able to mount again without having a “personal performance” for the crowd. These are all things that I have noticed seemed to have been lost somewhere in the mix. Another kudos to having horses that are “square” rather than those that have no back end at all. Yes, it takes precious time to jog a young horse in a jog cart, but the rewards are neverending for that horse no matter if it is a pleasure horse, gaited horse, or walk-trot horse. It is very exciting to see a horse breathing fire and marching down the straight-a-way, but just as exciting to see that horse actually stand in a line up, back when asked, and the rider dismount and mount without problems. And if those things can be accomplished, think what it says to the general public not just about the horse, but about the trainer and rider? Actions speak volumes, whether good or bad. Great article!!!!
Thank you for being bold enough to speak what so many others will not acknowledge. I love my horses, and when it comes to chosing a healthy happy horse, or a blue ribbon, give me the horse. I have heard time and time again, “everyone has something to sell” and if you go so far and sell your integrity-step over the line for the almighty buck-then maybe these types should retire from working with livestock and move to Wall Street!
AMEN!!!!!!! Now let’s do it…
Thank you for caring enough about our beautiful American Saddlebred horses to be willing to share so honestly about these issues! The problem is we have put our goals before principles and the horses are paying the price!!
This is supposed to be a love affair between a horse and rider, between a horse and the audience, a team effort between a trainer and the owner/rider. If the expression of the horse does not reflect this, it shows that someone has tried to take a shortcut to simply get a product to the show ring.
Thank you for your frank and honest appraisal of the state of our industry. Having been in this business for 40 years, I have observed and experienced exactly what you have described. I agree with you 100%.
One thing nobody wants to talk about is the fact that many (not all) trainers today purposefully do not foster an emotional bond between their clients and the horses because the trainers do not want the client to become so attached to a particular horse that it would impede sales. Trainers want that commission. So- what else is there to foster in a client except the prospect of winning a blue ribbon or looking at the horse as a “financial investment” (which is not going to work anymore anyway). If your goal then is to win blue ribbons or increase the potential of financial gain, then the trainer must use more “smoke and mirrors” to get the horse to look as if it is “improving” faster. Of course, this isn’t good in the long term and you end up with unhappy and unsound horses that misbehave in public and make us all look bad. But, hey, then it is time to sell that horse and get a new one! This is short-sighted. Other breeds and disciplines have shown that by including the client more in the care and training of the horse, making it personal to them, and fostering an emotional bond builds loyalty to the horse, the breed and the trainer. When times get tough it is much harder to leave the horse you love than the vehicle to a blue ribbon or the bad investment.
Love your article!! I to have taken myself out of the saddlebred shows, because of the judging not actually being judged on what it should anymore. Especially in the pleasure classes, flat walk means flat walk!! Who calls the shots?? Enough is enough, we have park horses in show pleasure, we have country pleasure horses getting there pads taken off at the shows! Even if you do let your young ones grow you will always be a step behind when you finally do take them to the show ring. Until they can’t walk anymore from being started so young. I truly hope your article goes all over the saddlebred world and something is done about it. Then maybe one day I could get off the b circuits and take my horses back to the classes they belong in, with a fighting chance!!
These are great thoughts, but still doesn’t seem to address the fact the Saddlebred/saddleseat market has a failed business model. For the last 25 years that I have been around Saddlebreds, and likely longer than that, the push has been to bring in junior exhibitors. The idea being that the saddlebred is a family horse, and by bringing in new riders as kids, they will shun other breeds and styles of riding. These kids grow up, keep the horses and then get more for their kids. This sounds great on paper, but has anyone else noticed that we have been doing this for 25 years and haven’t seen an increase in sales? Show horses today are over-trained when compared to the show horses of 20, 30 or 40 years ago, so making them stand to get on is not the answer.
Perhaps instead of changing the horse to meet the needs of our target audience, we change the target audience to meet the needs of the horse? What if we don’t try and pull junior exhibitors into the fold, but focus on adults? We bring adults in, and they bring in their kids or grand kids after the grown-ups are hooked.
We all know the world has changed since the heyday of the saddlebred in the 50s and 60s. People are generally more safety conscious and risk averse in their daily life. However, as kids have been forced to wear more and more protective gear, “extreme” sports have been born. Base jumping, bungee jumping, body boarding, kite surfing, Snowboarding, have grown out of a need for an adrenalin rush that one doesn’t get in more traditional sports. Why can’t we translate this to horses? The pony hunter is bike ridden around the block, while the saddlebred is the mountain bike/motorcross. The saddlebred is the whitewater canoe to the quarter horse’s paddle boat? Sell the thrill of being on a sort-of-broke horse. A doable version of bull or bronc riding. Sell the challenge. Seek the bungee jumpers instead of the soccer moms.
I have a saddlebred because I can’t stand the “warm&fuzzy” emotional bonding at the local boarding stables. Many, many people are competive and most of them are successful enough in their professional lives to be able to afford a show horse. That competitive nature does not get turned off at the barn door. If they don’t get a blue ribbon at a saddlebred show, they will go to another one.
Hi,
I have to agree with Mr Ruxor. I’ve been around this breed for over 20 years and I’m seeing more flash from the younger horses, but I can’t help but wonder where is the common sense? Trainers need to allow them to mature both physically and mentally, you can’t rush a living creature without someone suffering in the end.
We are all under the gun with PETA, HSUS and the other Animal Rights groups, they are watching. If we don’t take control ourselves with the overtraining/undertraining of our horses, then we will have to deal with them. Thanks for speaking out. A good horse doesn’t happen in a day, a month or a year, but rather a over a lifetime.
I think the PETA, HSUS issue is an interesting topic. I have found that Saddlehorse people are unnecessarily paranoid about somethings, and clueless about other.
At the WIHS exhibition last year, some of the Saddle horse volunteers were upset because the jumbotron showed a close up of the walk-trot horses’ feet. They were sure the intent was to show the world the heavy shoes and embaress the breed. The reality is they did a close of the trot because it was a cool picture. They did the same thing later with the dressage horse. With the footing in the area, you couldn’t tell how long the foot was. I have seen several articles suggesting that we rename chains, stretchies, shackles, etc with kinder, gentler names so as to not put off those unfamiliar with the equipment. At WIHS, another saddlebred person had a small coniption about having a tail set crupper and old rattlers in the display of vintage equipment. Why? There is nothing abusive about a tail set or rattlers.
I’ve kept saddlebreds in an assortment of barns as an AOT, and never had any problems using any specialized training equipment, including chains, stretchies, running W’s and a tail set. I get more questions over the jowl sweat, which everyone assumes is for cribbing. I had a girl with hunters contemplating using chains to get her horses’ back ends under them.
What I think we should be concerned or embarrassed about is all of the weight that is being put on futurity colts. Other than trying to make sure you can win or to correct a defect, there is usually not a good reason for putting shoes of any kind on a weanling. This practice does expose the breed to valid criticism from animal protection groups, and possibly the USDA. The ASHA should change the rules and prohibit shoes or pads on weanlings. Rethinking futurities as a whole probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
As a group, we are continually apologizing for shoes, training methods, and tail sets. We give the impression that there we are hiding or sugar coating things, when there is nothing to apologize for. This gives animal protection and rights groups a leg up. This institutional paranoia seems to be more prevalent among those who patronize smaller open shows, which is especially bad, since they have more interaction with other breeds. You have a saddlebred, think like the peacock your horse is, and hold your head up high.
We need to let our training methods be seen by the public. Just because an animal does not scream in pain does not mean that it does not hurt. We know that these horses are the greatest because they usually have good personalities. We need to let these show, as much as their fancy gaits. Maybe we need DQPs (designated qualified professionals) like the Tennessee Walkers have to make sure there are no sored horses at our shows!
You mention that the juding is better? Really? If the horses that create disruption in the ring were excused, the ones that pull themselves along or don’t truly do 5 gaits were not pinned, then a lot of these issues would go away. The public doesn’t tie these horses in competition, JUDGES do. And if they award a bad thinking horse,then you’ll see more and more of it. The judges need to adhere to the standards and the horses will appear to be better mannered becaust the trainers won’t bring them out until they are ready.
This is a wonderful article and we need more of this kind of communication within the breed.
I have read this article many, many times and think it is spot on every time I read it. As my child has grown up in this world, the other disturbing trend is that children are increasingly being mounted on increasingly hot and ill mannered horses. Do people (trainers/parents/children) get so caught up in the competition that they are willing to risk injury to their child and others in the warm up or show ring? I have seen 5 people hold a horse while the 6th puts the child on and everyone gets out of the way.. I have seen a horse rear at every show and they put the child back on – at every show. I have seen children on horses that are way too strong for them and I have even seen parents/trainers ride a horse in a ‘throw away’ class so that it is better behaved for a child. I know this also happens in the adult ranks – but others are not making the decision for the adult. Will it take a horrible accident to bring back the concern for over mounting the rider? A horse for a child should be suitable for a child.
Thank you, Bob, for an excellent, thoughtful article. I grew up in Louisville and watched My My and Forest Song repeatedly win in the 60s, and Yorktown, Mandala, Giddy Up Go and Belle Elegant in the early 70s. I knew Plainview’s Lady Louise, who won a 3 gaited pleasure class at Louisville in the 60s for Jyl Adams. She was a classy mare that could flat foot walk with style, but lived in less than modest surroundings at Westglow Stables, a local Louisville boarding stable, and was strictly owner-trained and shown. I won a 3 gaited class with Supreme O’Lee in 1973 (Valley View Supreme x Susie O’Lee). Though he wasn’t an easy ride by any means, I still consider him to be inherently the finest horse I’ve ever laid a leg over. I moved away from Kentucky and switched to dressage in the early 80s. I have owned and trained European warmbloods, Saddlebreds and Morgans for dressage. I still prefer a good Saddlebred to all others. I have always admired the Supreme Sultan horses. With all that said, I will get to the point of this comment. In a nostalgic moment, I started re-subscribing to Saddle Horse Report a few years ago and continue, on a weekly basis, to be awestruck by the “at home horse shows” I am fortunate to receive in absentia, due to the tremendous quality of unsurpassed professional Saddlebred horse show photography and excellent layout spreads. Other than a brief visit to Oak Hill Farm in the mid 80s, I have not actually seen a Saddlebred physically move for about 25 years, until yesterday, when I pulled up some on-line interview videos from Louisville which had video clips of some of the show footage. That is the reason for this message. Bob, you are absolutely correct. The engine is mostly gone from the back end of the Saddlebred. Watching the videos, after looking strictly at only photographs for years, was disappointing and even heartbreaking. Good Saddlebreds used to have HOCK ACTION! A few still had it. But what I mostly saw was tremendously animated front ends pulling the rear ends along. The other significant disappointments I observed were extremely pacey “World Champion” gaited horses and consistently uneven, irregular trots. Excessive speed appeared to be a contributing factor. I am still in shock. The reality of some of the video content was a sharp contrast to the positive impression I received when viewing the photographs. I hope this issue is realized and that these apparent widespread and “acceptable” weaknesses become a strong consideration for better breeding decisions in the future. And, as Bob referenced, I hope that trainers take the time to develop strength and carrying power, to avoid “leg waving” in that respect. Thank you again, Bob, for saying what truly needed to be said. You and your uncle produced some wonderful horses over the years. I hope that your comments are taken to heart and that my inclination to impose my dressage perspective on a different venue isn’t just summarily dismissed as irrelevant. Lastly, I want to add that one of the few truly impressive, correct riders and horses I observed was Debbie Foley on Callaway Annabelle ???. She’s come a well deserved, long way since the early days of Wine and Roses….